Netanyahu judicial review plans raise concerns among Jewish groups in North America

Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans for a judicial review have prompted concerns among major Jewish supporters of Israel in North America, Israeli media and Reuters have reported.

“What has begun as a debate about legislative policy has unfortunately revealed a much broader set of social concerns,” the Times of Israel reported President and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), Eric Fingerhut, as saying.

Reuters also cited him as adding that, “We don’t expect that the checks and balances are going to look just like ours, they can be completely different, but the question we would ask [Netanyahu] is, what is that system of checks and balances that you propose?”

The far-right coalition government in Israel wants to enable itself to be able to overturn Supreme Court decisions with a simple 61 vote majority. Supporters of the legislation claim that it restores balance to Israel’s branches of government, but critics say that it removes checks and balances on those in power.

The appearance of Israeli lawmaker Simcha Rothman at the JFNA General Assembly in Tel Aviv on Monday was disrupted by protesters, who chanted slogans against the judicial overhaul.

Netanyahu, said Reuters, was due on Sunday to address the assembly’s 3,000 delegates from more than 74 Jewish communities, whose goal is the “building and supporting of a flourishing Jewish state”. However, the prime minister’s speech was cancelled at the last moment.

Reuters also reported that 30 leaders from Jewish federations across North America made an extraordinary visit to Israel to express their concerns with Israeli leaders over the proposed judicial review. The JFNA is emblematic of the ties with between Jews in the Diaspora and Israel. Its members raised more than $250 million for Israel in 2022.

The organisers of the assembly recommended that Jewish leaders should think deeply about the planned judicial overhaul and whether it is serving Israel’s democracy or not.